Bethel Volunteer Fire Department to York County: Tell us who’s in charge
Bethel Volunteer Fire Department leaders ask York County Council either to keep local fire service control with volunteers, or let them know otherwise so they can start making plans.
Volunteers say if Council doesn’t respond by Oct. 18 to their request to suspend the hiring process for a new paid chief, the department will assume the county is discontinuing its longstanding agreement with them for fire protection in Lake Wylie beginning next year.
“I don’t think anyone knew, or believed, the ordinance used to govern the fire tax board as written, gave the same control to two entities,” said Perry Johnston, volunteer and department board member and former councilman. “This Council needs to decide who should be given operational control of our fire district.”
The volunteer department began 50 years ago. At that time, and with help since from a county rural fire board, an agreement put the department in charge of local fire service. The department spearheaded a special fire tax district passed by voters in 2009 as the cost of fire service outpaced community donations. That tax district is made up of a five-member tax board to oversee spending.
The department and tax board largely worked in unison until earlier this year, when the tax board voted to hire a paid fire chief. The board says the growing area needs a stable, professional fire protection leader. There area a handful of paid positions added since the special tax district began.
Volunteers argue they have a chief, elected by membership. While they see a need for more paid staff in the future, including a chief, they say tax dollars are better spent elsewhere now.
The paid chief position was posted mid-September. The tax cost is about $120,000 for salary and a new vehicle. Applications were accepted through Oct. 6 with plans to interview candidates later this month. Margaret Blackwell, tax board chairwoman, said she anticipated announcing the new chief in early November.
Johnston said meetings were held with volunteers, tax board members, county staff and elected officials to resolve the fire chief dispute.
“There has been and continues to be conflict between the (tax) board and volunteers,” he said.
Johnston said if Council chooses not to delay the ongoing hiring process it will indicate to the department operational control for fire service lies with the tax board, “thus relieving us of our responsibilities to do so.”
He also asks for amendment to the ordinance setting up the fire tax board to clarify the roles of the board and volunteer department.
Allison Love of Lake Wylie and Dist. 2 council-elect, agrees a paid chief is not needed now. She compared volunteers to members of the armed forces, police and others in community service, but with a noticeable difference.
“They do it for reasons most of us don’t understand,” she said. “You’ll most likely get a great deal of satisfaction, and hopefully support from your community — but no paycheck.”
Love is concerned volunteers will go elsewhere to serve if they feel control slipping away from the department.
“The cost of hiring firefighters in this case has not been accounted for,” Love said.
Doug Meyer-Cuno of Lake Wylie met with firefighters during his primary run for Council against Love. He said the paid chief decision risks a loss of trust and morale among firefighters.
“I think they serve a useful purpose,” Meyer-Cuno said of the tax board. “I just think they have this decision flat wrong.”
Resident John Howard asked Council to consider unintended consequences, like volunteers leaving.
“As a taxpayer I’m concerned this is going to cost us in the long run,” he said. “As a citizen, I’m feeling their pain that they’re actually having something forced on them.”
Yet there are two sides to the issue, said Dist. 2 Councilman Bruce Henderson. Repeatedly Monday night, Henderson reminded Council the tax board is doing what it was set up to do.
“We put them there to make the hard decisions, especially in crunch times when there’s times to make those hard decisions,” he said.
Henderson stopped short of advocating for or against a paid chief, but said the tax board should be authorized to make that type of decision. He also hinted at volunteers who may like the idea of a paid chief but are unwilling to say so publicly.
“There’s folks on both sides of this issue that want a paid chief,” Henderson said. “Some folks don’t want it to be known, for being concerned for their peers.”
The tax board hasn’t suggested the move to a paid chief is an indictment on current volunteer service. Blackwell said volunteers are an important and needed part of local fire service. Her board also has to consider the four paid firefighters, firehouse and apparatus it paid for and has responsibility for since the tax district began. A paid chief would oversee fire protection not only for a growing area, but also a growing tax base and list of county assets.
Local fire protection now has a 4 ISO rating, and insurance services score based on how well a department serves its area. That figure is on par with or better than many similar area volunteer units. The department serves 62 square miles, and assists neighboring departments in York, Mecklenburg and Gaston counties. They have almost 60 volunteers.
“Our volunteers give of themselves both in time and money to continue to improve ourselves and our department to serve our community,” Johnston said. “The volunteers risk their lives for others at no pay, and only because of their desire to give back to the community.”
Henderson praised volunteers repeatedly in the past, from firefighters to emergency responders who serve Lake Wylie. He also, though, trusts the citizen tax board in place.
“The folks on this tax board are doing exactly what we asked them to do,” Henderson said. “I trust their judgment.”
If a new paid chief is selected, the role will be effective Jan. 1, 2017.
John Marks: 803-831-8166
Bethel Rural Fire District
155.625 CREATION AND ESTABLISHMENT.
(A) There is hereby created and established a special tax district within York County, South Carolina, to be known as Bethel Rural Fire District, which shall include and be comprised of territory in York County embraced within the certain area shown and described on the map of Bethel Rural Fire District in Appendix D, Exhibit 5 of this chapter.
(B) Bethel Rural Fire District is created and established for the purpose and function of providing rural fire protection services therein, and Council is hereby authorized to exercise all powers and to perform all duties necessary to the proper rendering of rural fire protection services therein.
(C) There is hereby created and established a Board of Rural Fire Control for Bethel Rural Fire District, and Bethel Rural Fire District shall be managed and operated by such Board of Fire Control. The Board of Fire Control of Bethel Rural Fire District shall consist of five members appointed by the County Council, who must be residents of the area encompassed within Bethel Rural Fire District.
(D) (1) The members of the Bethel Board of Rural Fire Control shall be appointed to their initial terms as follows: one member shall serve for a term of four years; one member shall serve for a term of three years; one member shall serve for a term of two years; and two members shall serve for terms of one year. Successors shall be appointed for terms of four years. Any member whose term expires shall continue to serve until such time as a successor is duly appointed and qualified. The five members, upon being appointed and qualified, shall take office at which time the terms shall commence and expire as indicated upon the certificate of each member. Any member of the Bethel Board of Rural Fire Control shall be eligible for reappointment. The members of the Bethel Board of Rural Fire Control shall serve without compensation or pay. The Bethel Board of Rural Fire Control shall annually elect a chairperson, a vice-chairperson, a secretary, a treasurer and such other officers as it deems necessary. The Board of Fire Control shall meet no less frequently than quarterly, and at such other times as called by the chairperson or upon written request of a majority of the members.
(2) Any member who shall be absent for 50% or more of the meetings of the Board during any calendar year shall be deemed to have forfeited his or her membership on the Board and shall be removed without further action by the Board or the York County Council. It shall be the responsibility of the Board's secretary to notify the Board, the offending member and the York County Council of such absences, removal and vacancy, and the County Council shall fill the vacancy created thereby in the manner of the original appointment for the unexpired term of such member.
(E) The Bethel Board of Rural Fire Control (the Board) shall be authorized to exercise such powers with respect to the functions of the Bethel Rural Fire District as shall not be inconsistent with the general policies established by the Council, and pursuant to that authority shall be empowered to:
(1) Buy such fire-fighting equipment as the Board deems necessary for the purpose of controlling fires within the funds allocated or made available to the Board for such purposes;
(2) Select the sites or places within the service area of Bethel Rural Fire District where fire-fighting equipment shall be kept;
(3) Employ all necessary personnel and fix their compensation;
(4) Procure and supervise the training of firemen to ensure that the equipment shall be utilized for the best interests of Bethel Rural Fire District;
(5) Be responsible for the upkeep, maintenance and repair of trucks and other fire-fighting equipment, and to that end, shall, as frequently as necessary, inspect such equipment;
(6) Promulgate such rules and regulations as it deems necessary to ensure that the equipment is being used to the best advantage of the service area;
(7) Construct, if necessary, buildings to house the equipment authorized herein;
(8) Purchase, lease, hold and dispose of real and personal property in the name of the county, or alternatively in the name of the Bethel Rural Fire District, for the exclusive use of Bethel Rural Fire District; provided, however, that any such conveyance, lease or purchase of real property shall be by the Council and in accordance with the provisions of S.C. Code §§ 4-9-10 et seq., as amended;
(9) Cooperate or enter into contracts or agreements with any public or private agency which results in improved services or the receipt of financial aid in carrying out the functions of Bethel Rural Fire District; provided, however, that such contracts and agreements shall be subject to approval by the Council;
(10) Annually, at a time designated by the Council, submit to the Council a budget for the ensuing fiscal year adequate to fund the operation and maintenance of the Bethel Rural Fire District. Such budget shall list all funds which the Board of Fire Control anticipates will be available for the operation of the Bethel Rural Fire District. All funds appropriated, earned, granted or donated to Bethel Rural Fire District, including funds appropriated by the Council shall be deposited and expended as provided in this subchapter. All funds appropriated, earned, granted or donated to the Bethel Rural Fire District shall be used exclusively for providing rural fire protection services. All financial procedures relating to Bethel Rural Fire District, including audits, shall conform to the practices and procedures established by the Council;
(11) Annually submit to the Council the amount of millage that it wishes to levy for the upcoming fiscal year within the limits of the maximum amount of millage established by law;
(12) Annually file a detailed report of its operations and expenditures for the previous fiscal year with the Council.
(Ord. 3609, passed 7-20-09; Am. Ord. 3611, passed 11-21-11)
Source: http://tinyurl.com/zxu6acf (Listed under Title XV: Land Usage; Chapter 155: Zoning Code.)
This story was originally published October 4, 2016 at 1:50 PM with the headline "Bethel Volunteer Fire Department to York County: Tell us who’s in charge."